Nato

Recognizing false claims and fake videos shared on social media is a challenge for U.S. voters as the 2026 midterm elections approach. That is why Lead Stories and several other fact-checking organizations active in North America are joining forces in a first-of-its-kind collaboration: a joint newsletter sharing their best election-related work. It features an overview of fact check articles that…

Did Euronews report that a "Ukrainian gunman" shot and killed three NATO soldiers during the August 2026 military drill held in Latvia? No, that's not true: There is no such report on the news organization's website nor its social media accounts. Also, the Latvian army issued a statement explicitly denying this. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and…

Does a real photo show athletes wearing medals flipping the bird at President Donald Trump's back during the Patriot Games on Aug. 11, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Trump was ever flipped off by the young athletes sitting behind him during the event. The image contains visual inconsistencies commonly associated with AI-generated…

Do studies show an 81% or 82% miscarriage rate in pregnant women vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first trimester? No, that's not true: The numbers are a long-running misrepresentation of early safety data on how mRNA COVID-19 vaccines affected pregnant people. The 81% and 82% figures come from miscalculating percentages from early, incomplete data -- no study actually found those…

Did an Aug. 3, 2026, procession in Louisville bring the corpse of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to the coroner's office there? No, that's not true: The Louisville Metro Police Department told Lead Stories that reports involving McConnell were "completely false" and said authorities were escorting the body of an officer who had died. As of Aug. 5, 2026, there…

Does a real video show a group of Muslim men kneeling on prayer rugs while riding on the London Tube? No, that's not true: The Hive Moderation AI-generated content detection tool determined the video was 99.9% likely to be AI-generated. There are multiple glitches and inconsistencies in the video pointing to the video being AI-generated -- one man has six…

Is Jason R. Day a real performance artist and impersonator who disappeared in 2012? No, that's not true: Day is an AI-generated character intended to satirize University of Cambridge professor Jason Arday in a fabricated Wikipedia page. Arday has been accused of plagiarism and of falsely exaggerating his achievements, including a claim to hold a "visiting professor" position at the…

Does a viral image show the real face of a woman who seemed to have waved at migrants in Ceuta, Spain? No, that's not true: The picture portrayed the woman with an anatomically impossible nose. The image was generated by AI, according to AI verification tools and instructions for the original version of the image. The claim appeared in a…

Does a real photo show an army officer with the "nuclear football" chained to what is described on social media as a "diaper bag" carried by Trump aide Natalie Harp? No, that's not true: The original photo didn't display an army officer or the briefcase allowing access to the nuclear arsenal. The image was digitally altered by AI. The claim…

Does a video show U.S. Sen. John Fetterman being arrested after pulling a gun on a person in a car? No, that's not true: The man seen in the clip is not the senator from Pennsylvania but a man in Des Moines, Iowa. According to reports, Des Moines police identified him as Bradley James Ratkovich, who was charged with assault…